Vehicle passive safety systems may use occupant information, e.g. occupant height and weight. Determining occupant information in a vehicle, however, may be difficult and expensive. For example, determining the height of an occupant while seated in the vehicle is difficult because the occupant is sitting.
Occupant detection and classification systems use various metrics to detect and classify vehicle occupants. The metrics can be measured or based on a user input. Sometimes, the metrics relate to the occupant's size. For instance, an occupant detection system may determine whether an occupant is present in a vehicle based on a weight on the seat. Such systems can sometimes distinguish adult occupants from children, pets, or non-living objects.